July 24, 2007

Libya Frees Foreign Medical Workers

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were pardoned by
President Georgi Parvanov upon their arrival in Sofia on Tuesday after
spending 8 1/2 years in prison in Libya.

The medics, who were sentenced to life in prison for allegedly
contaminating children with the AIDS virus, arrived on a plane with
French first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and the EU's commissioner for foreign
affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The six came down the steps from the airplane and were welcomed on
the tarmac by family members who hugged them, one lifting the
Palestinian doctor off the ground.

They were given bouquets of flowers, and Bulgaria's president and
prime minister were on hand, greeting the nurses and Sarkozy, who had
been part of the delegation that negotiated the group's return.

''I waited so long for this moment,'' nurse Snezhana Dimitrova said before falling in the arms of her loved ones.

Libya accused the six of deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan
children with HIV. Fifty of the children died. The medics, jailed since
1999, deny infecting the children and say their confessions were
extracted under torture.

These were trumped up charges, and the trial was marked by a refusal
on Libya's part to allow scientific data clearing the health care
workers. A campaign on their behalf was started by Nature in Sept 2006

Libya's travesty

Six medical workers in Libya face execution. It is not too late for scientists to speak up on their behalf.

Letters were written, the story was blogged, pressure was brought to
bear, and after years of stalemate, here they are. Kudos to Declan, the
science bloggers and everyone who helped reverse this travesty of
justice. Activism has its triumphs as well as its frustrations, and
today is one of those triumphs.

Excellent news. I note that it was Ms. Sarkozy and the EU Commissioner riding out of Dodge with the liberated. There was a time when the US would have been front and center on something like this. I am curious what role our government played, if any, in today's release; or, if like Cheney with Vietnam, "we had other priorities" and couldn't muster much involvement.

Didn't the EU effectively pay a ransome of some 400 million dollars? For that much money, you would think they could have bought a whole lot more than a doctor and five nurses. From the wapo:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072300247_2.html?hpid=topnews

Last week, Libyan authorities commuted death sentences against the medics to life in prison following a deal to pay about $1 million to families of each of the infected children. The money was reportedly paid through a special fund created in 2005 by the Libyan and Bulgarian governments, under the auspices of the European Union. Libyan officials said the money came from European countries and charitable organizations, as well as from Libya.

Sarkozy on Tuesday denied that European nations had bought the medics' freedom.

"Neither Europe nor France has made the smallest financial contribution to Libya,"

That's funny. Because it sure seems like the deal went like this: EU agrees to pay Libya $400 million, Libya pardons and releases six prisoners, prisoners go home. Explain for me again how this isn't an example of "European nations [buying] the medics' freedom?"

And bmaz: not that I'm a total cynic, but we just don't value American doctors that much.